A Mobile Police officer, who simply identified himself as Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Isah threatened to arrest journalists who were carrying out their lawful duty on Saturday on Sapele Road, Benin, Edo State.
Trouble started when the vehicle conveying the CSP suddenly accosted a vehicle driven by Otunba Mike Aladenika, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Edo State council, with his vehicle and asked who he (Aladenika) was.
The former Chairman was explaining himself when the vehicle next to him in the Convoy of journalists, which was driven by Mr. Ozioruva Aliu, the Edo State Correspondent of Vanguard newspaper who happens to be former secretary of the council alighted from his vehicle to join the explanation by identifing Otunba as a journalist and former Chairman of the council.
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But Isah, who said he is the second in command of the Mobile Police Division in the state, was not satisfied with the explanation but rather questioned why journalists would drive in a convoy on election day.
Despite the journalists showing the officer their Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) accreditation tags and office ID, he insisted that they were on illegal duty since they did not have pass and police escort.
When he was told that journalists were free to move around on election day based on their job, he described them as illiterates.
But the journalists in return also told the CSP that he could also pass for a fake policeman, as he did not display his name tag.
Further, CSP also stated that anybody could claim to be a journalist.
CSP Isah noted that journalists should have stayed in a place to do their job instead of the usual practice of moving around to get information to do their reports.
This resulted in a heated argument and consequently attracted other journalists who were in the convoy.
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The CSP threatened to arrest the Vanguard Correspondent, Ozioruva Aliu.
This brought further argument as all the journalists in the convoy opted to follow the overzealous CSP to Zone Five of the Nigerian Police on Adesuwa Road.
After realising that he would not be able to effect an arrest and was chasing a lost cause, the CSP and his team rushed into their patrol vehicle and drove off.